Wow. In a mere 46 days, the 37th edition of the Atmosphere Mind Over Mountain Adventure Race sold over 600 entries making this event the fastest sellout and biggest turnout in our 17 year history.

We have racers coming from across North America and even a few from Australia, Germany, and South Africa. Over 50% are first time MOMAR racers, the gender split is pretty much 50/50, the youngest racer is 16 with a few seasoned pros in their 60’s, the average age is 39, and 100% love adventure!

As a bonus to those that registered and posted a comment on the MOMAR Facebook page, one lucky adventure racer would win a prize package that included a one night stay at the Parkside Hotel and Spa in Victoria (includes parking, breakfast and a $50 spa credit) and their MOMAR entry would be reimbursed. Awesome, eh?

And the winner of the prize package is…. Danielle Simonot from Calgary! Danielle is racing with her life partner in the Enduro and stated in her team bio that it’s “…victory or divorce!” Congratulations Danielle! Big thanks to everyone who entered and to the Parkside Hotel & Spa for the generous prize package.

The date is set for the 16th season of the Atmosphere Mind Over Mountain Adventure Race. On September 26th, 2015, over 500 weekend warriors will line up for another adventure filled day in the Village of Cumberland.

Racers can expect another challenging course complete with paddling, mountain biking, trail running, bushwhacking and more. Registration will open in early January and we are expecting another early sell out. Get your team together and save the date!

With just five months to go before the one and only Mind Over Mountain Adventure Race hits the village of Cumberland, we are headed for another early sell out. Over 400 weekend warriors have already registered and now we’re down to our final 25 spots before we are all sold out.

We are working on some new course concepts and possible new starting and finish locations too. New trails will be explored and we’ll look to put even more ‘adventure’ into this year’s course.

If you have friends that haven’t registered, please let them know get off the fence and stop procrastinating. The final spots will go quick!

Just like the MOMAR racer, I too have to make some tough choices. The big one for me was the decision to forgo the Burnaby MOMAR and only offer the race in Cumberland. The MOMAR has been in Cumberland for 12 of our 13 years and it’s always a big success. The community and trails are first class all the way and the party never misses. Saturday, September 21st, 2013, is the date — mark it in your calendar.

We had two great years in Burnaby with challenging courses, fantastic trails, and many amazing memories. However, in the end, the numbers just didn’t add up and we had to make the difficult decision to let it go. It was a tough call because Gary and I had a good plan for another course that would have used some cool new terrain.

I would like to extend a BIG thanks to Matthew Coyne at Tourism Burnaby for inviting us to Burnaby and making it all happen. Thanks to the City of Burnaby and Simon Fraser University for granting us permission to race on their trails. Thanks to Magnus Johansson and the GVOC for designing the awesome orienteering stage on the SFU campus! And a big final thanks to my good buddy, Gary Robbins, for your awesome course design and management!

Now with all our adventure eggs in one basket, the Cumberland MOMAR will be capped at 350 racers and with only one MOMAR, I’m predicting an early sell out. With the Cumberland race, you can count on another fun Friday night registration night at the Riding Fool Hostel complete with a free beer and a goodie laden swag bag. We promise you another stellar course with lots of navigational choices, sweet single-track riding, and non-stop adventure. No, there won’t be any contrived obstacles, just you and the challenges of the wild Cumberland wilderness. And we’ll celebrate your day in a big way at the award winning after-party!

We hope that you will make this MOMAR part of your adventurous plans for 2013! We hope that you will rally your couch potato friends to join your team.

Wow! Wow! Wow! What a year. 13 years in the bag and so many great moments to add to memory bank. A big BIG thanks goes out to our talented team of photographers who came out and captured the MOMAR experience.

The racers and volunteers pose for the group shot minutes before the start of MOMAR Burnaby (top) and MOMAR Cumberland (bottom). For many, this will be the last time them smile until they cross the finish line… :0)

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#2 – MERRELL TECH TOPS – photo by Mark Teasdale

Our sponsors are simply the BEST and Merrell led the way by stepping up and providing each of our racers and volunteers with a high quality tech top. Team S&M2 from Courtenay model the new shirts during Friday Night check in at the Riding Fool Hostel. This good looking team went on to finish 2nd in the 4C category.

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#3 – I WOULD CLIMB 500 STEPS – photo by Simon Whitefield

The City of Burnaby’s Parks Crew was busy over the past year building the new 500+ stair Velodome Trail up the backside of Burnaby Mountain. The Space Cadets hammer up the steps like it’s another day on the Stairmaster 3000.

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#4 – X-FILES “O” – photo by John Crosby

Once again, one of the coolest parts of the Burnaby MOMAR was the Orienteering stage through the campus of Simon Fraser University. Here, Geoff Langford leads his Raid the North team through the GVOC designed course.

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#5 – SHRINKAGE! – photo by David Murphy

Colin Rennie and Sandra Hardy punch the last CP in the waters of Burrard Inlet. Everyone can thank Tom Jarecki for hanging the CP in this location.

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#6 – WITH THE MAVERICKS – photo by Mark Teasdale

For the first time, we added “Social Media Mavericks” to the team of volunteers. Sarah and Casey-Jo stepped up and provided us with awsome live coverage on Twitter and Facebook and we also had some great tweets from competing teams too.

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#7 – LIKE ANTS ON THE WATER – photo by Dave Silver

This photo RULES!!! The sight of seeing all of the kayaks lined up on Comox Lake for the start of the race is pretty amazing.

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#8 – MYSTERY PEAK – photo by Dave Silver

Cumberland’s terrain is truly phenomenal and filled with many hidden gems. While on a weekend of course scouting, we found a huge open bluff with an incredible view of the valley and we knew we had to make it a checkpoint. Bushwhacking got you there the fasted, but you had to feel good about your compasss skills. In this photo, Hailey Van Dyck and Jesse Crane clear the CP and venture off to the next.

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#9 – REFRESHING SWIM – photo by Mark Teasdale

The Mystery Checkpoint was a popular stage at this year’s MOMAR Cumberland. It was a short swim with the aid of an air matress or pool noodle.

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#10 – CUMBY TRAILS – photo by Dave Silver

A big reason why people keep signing up for the MOMAR Cumberland is the amazing network of mountain biking trails. The community of trail builders are a dedicated and phenomenal bunch of guys and continue to impress the hundreds of out-of-town participants.

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#11 – SEADS AT SEEDS! – photo by Mark Teasdale

Seeds Natural Food Market in Cumberland has been a sponsor of the MOMAR for many years now and it has become one of the racer’s favorite checkpoint. Christina and her staff put out the treats as a mini-reward for the racers. Sarah Seads (photo) would agree that this extra bit of sugar is the perfect kick needed to make the final push to the finish line.

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#12 – INTO THE WILD – photo by Dave Silver

Going off trail can be a very unnerving experience–you can save heaps of time or you can find yourself “off the map”. This year at the Cumberland MOMAR, teams had many chances to use their compasses and venture in the woods and many felt it was the highlight of their race.

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#13 – SYCRO ADVENTURE RACERS! – photo by Dave Silver

We have to give another shout out to our sponsor over at Frontrunners who have been with us for the past 12 years. Norm, Stefan, Nick and Mark are all first class dudes!!!

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#14 – WATCH OUT FOR BEES – photo by Dave Silver

The final stage of the MOMAR Cumberland course is a small technical romp through the giant bolder and cliff-laden forest behind the Cumberland Campground. This stage puts the final stamp on an adventure filled day of racing and an we owe a big thanks to Carl Coger of the Victoria Orienteering Club for making it happen.

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#15 – THE CHAMP – photo by Mark Teasdale

It was another series sweep for Todd Nowack bringing his total overall win total to 12. Yes, 12. Todd has moved to Australia though and unless he makes a special trip back for the MOMAR (and we hope he does), we’ll be crowning a new champ in 2013.

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#16 – ABSOLUTE KAOS – photo by Brett Wilson

We thought they were great last year, but this year Kootenay Kaos stepped it up in a big way with thier Red Men/Women outfits and wonky helmets. Their speed walk across the finish line was a riot and their finish line shot is the bomb.

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#17 – THEY ARE THE BEST! – photo by Kimberly Kufaas

This card says it all. Our volunteers are the absolute best. Thanks Team Chels for making up these cards and handing them out to all of the volunteers along the course!

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#18 – THE CHAMPS – photo by Dave Silver

They train hard, they race hard, they make smart decisions, and they come out on top. These are just some of the podium finishers from this year’s MOMAR. Winners took home sunglassess from Ryders, Frontrunners gift cards, and a box of Clif bars!

Another year, another killer party at the MOMAR Cumberland. The cover band was kick ass and the party was a blast. Can’t wait for 2013!

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#20 – THE ULTIMATE BOTTLE OPENER – photo by David Murphy

This year’s finishers medal not only acknowledged the completion of your MOMAR experience, but was also functional as a bottle opener for the celebratory beer. Thanks to Rod Tasaka at SurfaceCollective.com for the great design!

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Wow. In a mere 46 days, the 37th edition of the Atmosphere Mind Over Mountain Adventure Race sold over 600 entries making this event the fastest sellout and biggest turnout in our 17 year history. We have racers coming from across North America and even a few from Australia, Germany, and South Africa. Over 50% […]